By Jilawatan

Two back-to-back critical and commercial successes and Vidya Balan is literally spoilt with all the appreciation coming her way. While some have marvelled at her effortless reinvention, others have insisted that she has carved a space for herself after busting the myth of power and beauty being strange bed-fellows in recent Hindi cinema. Vidya is slowly inching towards a zone that was earlier reserved for an actor like Rekha!

Ask Vidya about the changing image of Indian heroines and the actress says, “There was a time when Hindi films had heroines like Madhubala, Nargis, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan and Rekha, who epitomised beauty and strength. Our cinema then had men and women. In the mid ’80s, youth became the selling point even as we began to ape the American culture mindlessly. So, it was all about cinema of boys and girls. And even if boys graduated into men, girls remained static. The mindless obsession with youth made us lose sight of heroines abroad, who were more than mere glam dolls.”

But today, filmmakers claim that Vidya’s choice of breaking away from the usual, has given wings to their imagination. So, is Vidya trying to be the Rekha of new-age Indian cinema? “I am not trying to ape Rekha,” she says at the mention of how, at a recent award ceremony, she had dressed up like the diva. “Each one of us is unique. I admire Rekha a lot. She epitomises the quintessential Indian woman who is vulnerable, desirable, strong, sensuous and so much more. Beyond the obvious South Indian connection of the kanjeevaram and open hair, to be likened to someone like her, who epitomises the quintessential Indian woman, is humbling.”

And has Vidya found someone special? “I’m single and happy, but ready to be in a relationship. I’m a self-assured person and I’d want someone who is that way. Irrespective of which profession he comes from, I want him to respect others. That’ll happen if he respects himself,” she adds. And what about her personal take on multiple partners considering that her character in Ishqiya romanced two men? “Men are great at compartmentalising relationships. A woman can simultaneously have feelings for two men, but she can’t be sexually intimate with both. Polygamy exists, but I don’t think polyandry does.”

Meanwhile, offers to explore different mature shades of relationships have come her way. “Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh had offered me a Bengali film, Premer Golpo that would have both Hindi and Bengali film actors. But I don’t know what’s happening to it. I’m keen on doing another classic with Dada (Pradeep Sarkar).” And, of course, there’s Rituparno Ghosh on the list too.

Meanwhile, she is headed to Delhi today to shoot for Rajkumar Gupta’s film. Though tight-lipped about the film, Vidya is all praise for co-star Rani Mukerji. “She is a fabulous actor and one of my favourites among my immediate seniors. This film is based on an incident that we are all aware of. But, we are not filming it like a docu-feature.”